How To Make Homemade Caramel Coffee Creamer
Looking for a delicious alternative to store bought coffee creamer? This Homemade Caramel Coffee Creamer is rich with caramel flavor from a homemade caramel sauce combined with half & half and milk. It’s a simple recipe with a few added tips to keep your creamer from separating in your cup. Ditch the preservatives and elevate your home brewed coffee with this easy caramel coffee creamer recipe! Interested in other homemade coffee recipes? Try our Vanilla Coffee Creamer or our Maple Cinnamon Simple Syrup.
How To Make Homemade Caramel Coffee Creamer
A rich caramel coffee creamer recipe using simple ingredients and perfect for elevating homemade coffee drinks.
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons Water
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Cup Half & Half
- 1/2 Cup Whole Milk
- 1 teaspoon Real Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- We will begin by making a homemade caramel sauce. In a medium sized saucepan, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 2 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. water. Do not stir. Allow water and sugar to sit for a few minutes to moisten. We don't want to stir this mixture because it will cause sugar crystals to accumulate on the side of the pan and it won't cook properly.
- After sugar has moistened, place pan on burner set to medium low heat. Do not stir but instead allow sugar to dissolve for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, turn burner to medium heat and bring ingredients to a simmer with a lid on for 30-60 seconds. Remove the lid then slowly swirl ingredients occasionally until mixture turns an amber color. This should take about 3-5 minutes. Watch mixture closely so that it doesn't burn. (Note: In the reference photos below, I use an unrefined cane sugar which already has an amber color. I looked for the amber color to deepen slightly.) We don't want this mixture to over brown.
- You will want to work quickly during these next few steps. Add 3 Tablespoons of butter to the sugar mixture and whisk together. It will heavily bubble. If mixture begins to separate, remove from heat and whisk until mixture comes back together.
- Once butter is melted, slowly whisk in 1 cup half & half and 1/2 cup of whole milk and return to heat to warm. Once mixture is warmed, remove from heat and whisk in 1 teaspoon Real Vanilla Extract and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- After Homemade Caramel Coffee Creamer has cooled slightly, pour creamer into a quart mason jar and use an immersion blender to blend together. While you still may notice some separation due to the lack of binders (this is a good thing!) when storing this creamer or when creamer is added to coffee, we have noticed that blending it with the immersion blender will greatly reduce this.
- Use 2-3 Tablespoons per cup of coffee or more or less depending on your preferences.
- Store Caramel Coffee Creamer in an airtight container like a mason jar until use and use within 5-7 days. Shake before use.
An Easy Homemade Caramel Creamer…made right in your own kitchen!
If you’re a frequent reader here or reader of our newsletter, you know how important coffee is in this house. Coffee is one way our family gathers together. Whether we’re on the porch, around the bonfire, or cozied up inside – we enjoy coming together at the end of the day for a snack and a cup of coffee to discuss how each of our days went. It’s become a tradition that we find just as important as eating at the table together.
Sometimes we get a little fancy with our coffees and have come to enjoy even the simplicity of adding a little splash of maple syrup to our coffee! If we’re really wanting something fun we’ll make this Caramel Coffee Creamer. Made with simple and clean ingredients- you just can’t beat the rich and creamy caramel flavor added to your drip coffee or shot of espresso!
Key features in our Homemade Caramel Coffee Creamer Recipe:
- Simple, clean, real ingredients! No preservatives, artificial flavors, or toxic thickeners to be found. Our completely from scratch coffee creamer is even more delicious made with real ingredients!
- Rich caramel flavor- When making this recipe, we first create a homemade caramel sauce using water, sugar, and butter. This creates that potent caramel punch for maximum caramel flavor.
- Half & half plus milk makes this creamer so creamy!
- A tip for less separation in the cup! If you’ve ever made homemade coffee creamer you may already know that it tends to separate in the cup. This is only natural when you don’t add the binders found in store bought creamers. After making the creamer, we blend ours with an immersion blender. This changes the structure of the natural fats which helps them to stay together. You may still find some separation, it’s only natural! But we think this little tip helps so much.
Ingredients in Homemade Caramel Coffee Creamer:
- Granulated Sugar
- Water
- Butter
- Half & Half
- Whole Milk
- Real Vanilla Extract
- Salt
Step-by-Step Instructions For How To Make Homemade Caramel Coffee Creamer
In a medium sized saucepan, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp water. Do not stir. Allow the sugar to sit in the water for a few minutes to moisten.
After sugar has moistened, turn pan to medium low heat. Do not stir but instead allow sugar mixture to slowly heat and fully dissolve for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn burner to medium heat and bring ingredients to a simmer. Place lid on top and lightly simmer for 30-60 seconds. Remove the lid then swirl ingredients in the pan slowly and occasionally until mixture turns an amber color. This should take about 3-5 minutes.
Next, add 3 Tablespoons of butter and whisk together. This will begin to heavily bubble. If mixture begins to separate, remove from heat and whisk until mixture comes back together. Once butter is melted, slowly whisk in 1 cup half & half and 1/2 cup of whole milk. Warm the creamer on medium heat and then remove from heat and whisk in 1 teaspoon Real Vanilla Extract and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
After Homemade Caramel Coffee Creamer has cooled slightly, pour creamer into a quart mason jar and use an immersion blender to blend together. While you still may notice some separation due to the lack of binders (this is a good thing!) when storing this creamer or when creamer is added to coffee, we have noticed that blending it with the immersion blender will greatly reduce this.
